My name is Chubba Sreder and I am a graphic designer living in Cairns, Queensland. After moving from Hungary to Australia, one of the greatest challenges to overcome was to find a new source of inspiration to feed my creativity.

One day, while walking through the streets of Cairns, I experienced an emotional sensation caused by the most unexpected thing.

I began to fall in love with the letterboxes around me.

Standing guard at the premises, the letterbox is the first thing that greets a visitor. Even though they're only simple objects, letterboxes can be creative, colourful, funny and even communicative. The letterbox can tell all the secrets of the owner, or nothing at all.

Since that day I became obsessed with finding the best, nicest, funniest and funkiest looking letterboxes in Cairns. I purchased a bicycle, printed out the map of the whole city and started to build a new, interactive website. Beginning with the first day in January 2012, I've posted a new photo of a letterbox every single day throughout the whole year.

I've seen lots of different type of letterboxes, including those you would never expect.

The most popular type was the free-standing version on a pole but I've also seen built in letterboxes with nice mosaics, or letterboxes with beautifully carved ornaments.

I never rushed and always tried to keep my eyes on both sides of the street. Sometimes I would just stand beside the road for a long time trying to figure out what that interesting looking work-of-art could be.

Adding up the numbers, I've made 721 photos and have almost crossed the 2000km line on my push bike.

Because of all the unforeseen circumstances my creative project became an adventure.

During my creative journey I had deflated tyres, lost few a pens and my favourite water bottle, too. I invested in better gear and met mad dogs and curious postmen. I was sent away by an angry road worker and many people invited me to take a photo of their unique letterbox.

365CAIRNS is the biggest art project in my life so far, showcasing the amazing, never before seen world of letterboxes across the region of Cairns.

Many people have asked me, "What was your goal?"

Well, I just wanted to have fun, to learn more about the locals and find a new source of inspiration to feed my creativity.

I am proud of the result and hope my story inspires you to pursue your creative projects, too.

You can have a go by sharing your letterbox photos through ABC Open's national Snapped: Letterboxes project.

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Comments

Kate [The Letterbox Project]

This is awesome! Cairns is a goldmine for letterbox treasures. We can't wait to get there on one of our road trips and add to our collection at www.letterboxproject.com

Cameron

Good to know that there are people who share a similar interest in letter boxes.
We are looking for new interesting designs to make .Can you share some ideas?

Laurel

Does anyone know where the street is in Australia that has a letterbox obsession, I believe it's something to seep

Colin

I had no idea how many interesting letterboxes there are. I'll be looking out for them from now on.

Vera Rayson

Well done Chubba and I hope your book will come out by the end of next month.
Now you've got me interested in letterboxes. Sadly, around my knack of the woods, the letterboxes look less inspiring from the ones I've seen in the snapped project so far.

csabasreder

Thank you to everyone for their kind words :)
Leandro, I am still working on the book, I hope It's going to be published by the end of next month...

Leandro Palacio

Amazing project Chubba. My favourite has to be photo 355. The microwave (009) is pretty funny too. Are you publishing the book soon?

Pam Farey

Thank you so much for your wonderful story and photos of creative letterboxes.
You have inspired me to recreate another 'peacock' letterbox (my last one died of old age). A more conventional style replaced it. Time to produce another original design. Thank you Chubba for inspiring me.

Celia

Congratulations to this beautiful project. Very creative!

Cath Dwyer

Wow Chubba - you beat us to it, and how! What a fantastic project - so many great letter boxes but I have to say my favourites are 38 and 39 - and 156, scary! Check it out everyone - and well done Chubba on your labour of love.

Michael Bromage

The timeline on your Facebook page is fun to follow, Chubba! You've made letterbox photography a cultural fascination.